I just discovered These beautiful Pixar’s Little Golden Books! and at 2.99 a piece, I am buying all of them!

I will justify this purchase by saying that I am buying these for my daughter…and we will just leave it at that.

In animation, careful attention to detail is essential to giving a character life and making them feel as if they really exist on screen. It’s important to remember when animating a human face, is not simply a matter of moving the eyes, and mouth. There are a large number of factors to consider in even the most simple of moments.

For example, when a character furrows their brow. Its not simply a matter of lowering the eyebrows. A great animator considers that there are muscle groups in the forehead that tighten in a specific way to cause the skin (and thus, the eyebrows) to slide over the skull in specific way. Additional, muscles on the side of the face tighten almost involuntarily which causes the eyelids to draw closer together as well as causes the cheeks to tighten up. The skin on the top of the head may be drawn forward slightly as well, causing a persons hair to shift forward.

The human face is a surprisingly…malleable surface. Not convinced? Check this out.

This video serves as a perfect example of the surprising way the human face responds to “input”. Something to consider next time you set yourself to animating a furrowed brow…or a punch to the head.